Drought followed by severe weather followed by drought: When heat waves and heavy rain alternate, the challenges for water storage and retention are great. The Greens want to intervene here with a special program.
In view of increasingly dry summers, the Greens advocate a conversion of forestry and agriculture. If water is available in abundance, it must be preserved longer in the landscape and the formation of groundwater must be promoted, says the draft of a concept that the Greens federal executive wants to decide on today, Monday, at its meeting in Laatzen near Hanover. “This is the only way it will be available in dry periods in the future.”
According to the German Weather Service, the temperature in Germany has risen by 1.6 degrees on an annual average since comprehensive records began in 1881. Heat waves and dry phases like in the current summer have increased.
Specifically, the Greens reject the further deepening of rivers, they want to reduce land use and sealing. “In the future, measures for water storage and retention as well as for irrigation methods close to the ground are to be increasingly rewarded in the existing funding programs for agriculture and forests.” Cities are to be armed with more greenery and drainage areas for heat waves and heavy rain.
According to the draft, the Greens want to expand organic farming, and the number of animals in farms should be linked to the area. Moore should be rewetted “as quickly and comprehensively as possible”.
“In view of the future limited water resources and competing uses, the irrigation of agricultural land cannot be an alternative to the cultivation of site-adapted crop species and varieties,” says the paper. Where irrigation is required in individual cases, efficient technology is required. According to the draft, the Greens want to support research and development projects to adapt crop production to the consequences of climate change.
At least a quarter of the German forest area is endangered by the consequences of the climate crisis, according to the Greens. “We therefore want to convert the forests into species-rich and climate-resilient mixed forests and with native tree species. We will amend the Federal Forest Act for this purpose.” Artificial drainage systems are to be dismantled. At least five percent of German forests should be left to nature – the federal government had already set this goal in 2007 for 2020. In 2021, however, the proportion of natural forests was only 3.1 percent.
